The return of Counter-Strike's most iconic map has sparked mixed emotions.
Valve introduced a significant update for Counter-Strike 2, bringing numerous quality-of-life enhancements (including the reintroduction of the highly requested cl_righthand 0 command) and adjustments to the Active Duty Group map pool.
Nearly 18 months after being removed from the map pool to make room for Anubis, Dust2 is making a comeback in official tournaments. It's a remarkable (albeit unexpected) return for one of the most beloved maps in FPS history, featured in 16 out of the 20 Majors held to date.
Dust2's comeback has evoked varied reactions from the community. While it remains a map heavily influenced by spawns with a limited number of strategies, it's taking the place of one of the most strategically complex maps, Overpass.
This has prompted many players and casters to label this as the weakest map pool in Counter-Strike history. Some of the most vocal critics of the current map rotation include Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski (who boasted the third-highest Overpass rating on LAN in CS2) and the casting duo of Hugo "Hugo" Byron and Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam.
Analyst Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg also expressed strong criticism of the current map pool, predicting Dust2 to be T-sided due to the high cost of running a double AWP setup on the CT side and the ability for Ts to smoke off long cross with a single smoke in CS2.
Nikola "NiKo" Kovač, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, and Boris "magixx" Vorobiev have all praised the removal of Overpass, but many community figures stated they would have preferred another map to be removed. Even within the G2 camp, opinions about the changes vary, with in-game leader Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen lamenting the removal of "the best map."
Dan "apEX" Madesclaire seems enthusiastic about the return of Dust2. "Pick Dust2," he wrote on X. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut also seems excited, thanking Valve for the change and sharing a video in which he highlights the 1vs4 clutch he pulled off against FaZe at IEM Cologne 2021.